GETTING AROUND

Survey says: CTA needs to improve

June 14, 2004

Operating like all too many CTA buses, an 8:30 a.m. meeting last Wednesday of the transit agency's Committees on Strategic Planning and Service Delivery got under way 45 minutes late.

When it finally began, the Chicago Transit Authority received mediocre grades overall in a report based on polling of riders. The survey results, which show that customer satisfaction levels have remained stagnant since the last poll 2001--though in some categories got worse--complicate CTA president Frank Kruesi's ongoing efforts to make the case in Springfield that the agency deserves more operating assistance from the state.

The CTA can blame it on the economy, but there are other reasons ridership declined in 2003. Sixty-eight percent of customers own a car or can afford to own a car, but ride the CTA instead. CTA chairman Carole Brown noted the agency has to work much harder to keep those customers, as well as attracting the CTA commuters who now drive.

"We're committed to making sure we get all A's. Until that happens, we're still working and we are not happy with the results," Brown said.

The CTA survey found that riders judged the reliability of train operations, as well as the appearance and professionalism of CTA rail employees, to be significantly better than on the bus side. Only 35 percent of bus customers surveyed said they were "very satisfied" with the service, compared to 47 percent of train riders.